I'm Coming Home
by Peaches4590
Summary: Follow Alex and Maggie's life together leading up to the birth of their baby. Chap 3 features the arrival of baby Danvers-Sawyer and chap 4 the baby's name is revealed.
1. So it begins Maggie's POV

Maggie's P.O.V.

These are the moments I live for now. Waking in the morning be before my beautiful wife does, watching as the sun bathes her naked body in the early morning glow; highlighting her heavily swollen belly where our child is growing and currently seems to be doing cartwheels. It still astounds me that we are going to be mothers very soon with only being nine days away from Alex's due date. We have no idea what we are having, but I'm pretty sure Kara cheated and used her x-ray vision to look.

Even after five years of marriage to Alex, saying that I have a wife still astounds me. It's not that I never thought about getting married; it's just growing up in Blue Springs, Nebraska didn't exactly give me hope that I would ever find someone who I would love, let alone her loving me and agreeing to marry me.

The moment that I met Alex a little over six and half years ago, she was force to be reckoned with (a pain in my ass too) that day, but now I can't imagine meeting her any other way. The next few weeks after our first meeting it was like the universe was pulling us together. We constantly seemed to be at the same crime scenes, working on cases together and then when I was kidnapped by Scorch and rescued by my own personal superhero. The more time I spent with Alex, the more I couldn't get her out of my head; I couldn't explain the weird pull and connection I felt with Alex, I had never had that before. When she had suggested that we hang out and have drinks together, I was thrilled. Maybe, just maybe there was a chance for us. I played off my nervousness by telling her that I had read her wrong and didn't know she was into girls. When the words "I'm not" left her mouth, my world shattered. I decided that even if there was no chance of us dating, I would concede to being her friend, there was no way I wasn't going to have her in my life in some way.

When she finally realized that, she was in fact into women, I was ecstatic. I was happy that maybe at some point in the future we could be more than friends, but for now I was guarded of my heart. While I had been out of the closet for years and for her just now discovering this life changing revelation was a tricky thing, because I knew for her everything was going to be shiny and new.

The night at the bar when she kissed me was definitely unexpected, but not unwelcome. Me being the ever cautious person I am, I made the stupidest mistake of my life in that moment by tell her I was there for her but just as a "friend". Seriously, how insanely stupid could I be? After that Alex started pulling away from me, not answering my calls or text, avoiding the bar and sending someone else to alien crime scenes. I was afraid that I had completely ruined any chance of having her in my life ever again.

After a particularly bad day work, I really need a drink and decided to go to the bar. Luck was on my side that night as soon as I walked in I heard her laugh, my heart suddenly started pounding wildly. To say our talk that night was a little awkward would be an understatement, but she had agreed that we could be friends. Not exactly what I had wanted but it would have to work. In less than 24 hours our re-established friendship would blow up, when Alex showed up and told me to lay of the Guardian and that we were in fact not friends. That was the second time I had seen heartbreak in her beautiful soulful brown eyes and for the second time, it was because of me. When she walked away, I felt as if my whole entire world was walking away too. I couldn't let her just up and walk out of my life again because I was being an idiot. So I did the only thing I could, I told her that I couldn't imagine my life without her in it and she had let me back in her life. Even though it was just a little bit, I was happy that she let me in at all.

They say that when you are dying that your life flashes before your eyes, that's not what I saw when Cyborg Superman had shot me in the should with his heat vision. Before passing out, I saw flashes of what I hoped would be my future with Alex. When my eyes finally fluttered open, I saw a vision of a goddess above me. Alex was careful as she stitched my wound up and proceeded to thank me for helping her "finally get me". I wanted to respond with thank you for existing, because there is nothing in this world more perfect than you. After leaving the DEO, I knew I had to stop being so guarded of my heart, just because I had my heart broken before doesn't mean it will happen again. So I made up my mind that I wanted Alex.

I decided to not tell her I was coming to see her, she can't say no to letting me in if I just show up right? I had never been so nervous in my life than when I knocked on her door, being shot at on a routinely basis wasn't as scary as what I was doing. When she answered the door in her pajamas, I had never seen her look more beautiful and so at ease. When I started telling her about how I thought I was dying earlier, to which she very adamantly stated she would never let that happen, I couldn't seem to find the words I was looking for. When my mouth finally caught up with my brain, I had spilled my guts about really "just want to kiss you" and took a chance. That kiss was unlike any other I've ever had before, it was everything a kiss should be, love and passion.

After that night in her apartment, things for us were great as we were officially dating. When Kara had found out, she had pulled me aside one night at the bar and told me if I broke her sister's heart again I would be sorry. Little did I know that a few weeks later, it would be Alex who broke my heart. The day my world crashed around me had started out amazing; it was our first official sleep over. Waking up to Alex was the absolute best way to start the day and wearing her t-shirt made it even better. That entire day I had tried and failed at getting in touch with Alex, as a last resort I went to the DEO after work. I saw her the same time she saw me, she said that it was a bad time that Supergirl was missing and Alex seemed to believe that her being "happy for five minutes" was the cause.

When Alex had said that "this was a mistake" my heart and world seemed to stop, I should have known better. That was the one thing I was afraid of the most when I opened my heart back up to her, having it loved for a while only for it to be shattered and handed back to me in pieces.

The text from her later that night begging for me to come over almost went unanswered. When I arrived at her door I almost considered leaving, but chose to hear her out. She explained that she just went a little crazy and that the universe was magically smacking her down from being happy. Really? Was that the best answer she was going to give me? Nope, she was going to have to do better than that. She said she had always felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, that her parents had expected her to watch over Kara and the few times she had been happy had ended badly and that when Supergirl went missing she "just blew a gasket". There it was, the only confirmation that I needed to confirm Supergirl was in fact Kara. Alex's eyes were the size of saucers when I stated "because Supergirl is your sister", she seemed relieved that I knew because she didn't want there to be any secrets.

If I was going to let her back in my heart, I needed the promise of her not running away again when something bad happens. She assured me that she wouldn't, because she wanted to be happy with me. I decided that it was worth the risk and told her that she only got one chance, but the truth was I would give her as many chances as I had to.

Seven months later, we were going stronger than ever and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Alex; I wanted to call her my wife. To say I was terrified when I asked Kara and Eliza for their permission to ask Alex to marry me, would be an understatement. They were of course okay with it, now all I had to do was ask. I planned a weekend getaway for us to the beach, under the guise that we needed some alone time since work had been keeping us from it.

On our last night, I suggested we go on a midnight walk along the beach, seeing that it was a crescent moon and you could see so many stars. I had managed to slip the ring box in my pocket earlier that night and it felt like it weighed a ton. Walking hand in hand along the shore, I was astounded by Alex's beauty in what little moonlight there was as she looked up at the stars. I suddenly stopped walking, dragging Alex back towards me by her hand. Her face betrayed her emotions; she went from confused to worried. I knew that this was the moment that would either make me the happiest or the most broken hearted woman in the world. I got down on one knee while still holding her left hand with my right and clumsily trying to get the ring box out of my pocket with my left. I felt like I was going to vomit, pass out or possibly both.

Alex looked like a deer in head light when her brain seemed to finally process what was happening. I had this whole speech planed with all the things I wanted to say, but for some reason my mouth couldn't seem to form any words. When I finally could form words all I said was "I love you Alex Danvers. I want to spend the rest of my days waking up to you, spending our all of the tomorrows I have with you. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Will you make me the happiest woman in the world and marry me?" She stood there with her mouth open for way to long and I started to panic. I had a million different thoughts running thought my head and that maybe asking her to marry me this soon was mistake. Thankfully, I was wrong. She shook me out of my thoughts by kissing me with passion and saying "yes" over and over between kisses.

The months following our engagement were ones of absolute insanity. Alex, Kara and Eliza went full blown with wedding preparations. I was more than happy to let them take charge of the planning, only chiming in when I was asked a question about what I thought. It only seemed fitting to get married on the beach we got engaged on. We decided to get married the following summer in June. As October rolled into November and November into December, Alex seemed to become increasingly stressed about making wedding plans and making everything perfect. After months of Alex acting like a mad woman, I had finally had enough.

It was New Year's Eve and I had everything planned. I had asked J'onn to keep Alex busy for as long as possible at the DEO, while I transformed our apartment the best I could into a wedding venue. I had originally thought about having our family and friends there, but decided that it wasn't about them. It was about Alex and I; and the love we had for each other. One perk of being a city cop, was that I had access to a lot of people. I asked a close coworker, who was an ordained minister, if she would marry us.

Alex had called to say she was on her way home and that J'onn had ruined our evening, I told that he hadn't ruined just that our plans had been shifted a little. I asked her to change into the dress she had taken, just in case she wouldn't make home in time to get ready to out to celebrate the New Year.

I still remember the absolute vision she was walking through the door in that dress. She was wearing the first dress I ever saw her in, the one she wore to the underground alien fight club. When she finally looked up, she looked at me bewildered and asked what was going on. I took her hands and walked her to the middle of the room to stand under the arbor I put up. She asked what was going on and I told her that planning our wedding shouldn't be stressful but all that she seemed to be doing was stressing way too much and I didn't want that. I looked at her with all of my love for her and said "I want to start the New Year with you as my wife. What do you say Danvers, wanna get married?" So there in the middle of our apartment, we became wife and wife.

The days leading up to our second wedding anniversary, I noticed that Alex became increasingly quiet and withdrawn. I was starting to get worried. Did I do or forget something to make her upset? Had she fallen out of love with? I couldn't figure out what was wrong. The night of our anniversary, I came home to my wife standing just inside the door in the dress she wore when we got married. I was really confused, was she planning on us renewing our vows? Throughout dinner, she acted nervous and fidgety. I asked her what was going on and before she could even really process her answer, she blurted out that she wanted to have a baby. I couldn't get out my seat fast enough to wrap her in my arms and say "yes" repeatedly while kissing her. We began the process of starting our family over the next few months.

We knew that the journey to get pregnant wouldn't be easy, but we had been through and survived worse. Our goal was that, hopefully we would be adding a new member to our family around the same time as our third wedding anniversary. We decided that Alex would be the one to carry our baby, she could work in the lab (so long as it wasn't dangerous for her or the baby) while pregnant, we used my egg and a sperm donor. Our first and second rounds of IVF didn't take, but we weren't discouraged. We wanted a family and we would try out hardest to create it.

When we did our third IVF round, we were positive it had taken and we were right. Four weeks after the embryo implant, Alex and I sat huddled on the side of our bathtub for the longest two minutes of our lives holding each other's hands for dear life. The suffocating silence was shattered by the timer going off. With promises that everything would be okay and still holding hands, we turned the pregnancy test over to see a pink plus sign. I'm not sure how long we spent hugging, kissing, crying and saying "I love you" over and over. We decided to wait to tell our family and friends until after we had our first ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy.

Labor Day weekend was fast approaching and we had agreed to rent the house we stayed in when we got engaged to have one last summer hurrah and by inviting our family to tag along. Alex was now seven weeks pregnant and we couldn't wait to share our happiness. As we set down for dinner on our first night, armed with the ultrasound in hand, we told our family we were pregnant. Eliza and Kara were ecstatic. Eliza couldn't get anything out other than "my baby is having a baby" along with crying and hugging Alex and I to death. Kara was babbling about how excited she was to finally become an aunt as she carefully hugged her sister. When she hugged me, I literally thought she was going to break me in two; I had to wheeze out a plea for her to lighten up.

Alex's pregnancy was going great, she had just passed her nineteen week mark and we were scheduled to find out the gender in two weeks, then I got a call I wish I never had gotten. I was working on a crime scene just outside National City when my phone buzzed and lit up with Alex's picture, I figured she was calling to ask if I'd bring the new craving of the week, how I wish I had been right. Instead she stated that I needed to get to the DEO now that she was having severe cramps and was bleeding, my breathing stopped along with my heart when she said those words. Before I could ask any questions, Kara landed next to me and stated she was flying me back to the DEO to be with Alex, with the phone still pressed to my ear I promised Alex to be by her side in a couple minutes.

Kara flew so fast that she literally had to hold the back of my neck to keep it from snapping. As soon as our feet touched the balcony, I took off running to the med bay, when I arrived and saw Alex lying with her back turned away from me in the hospital bed. I took a deep breath to try to calm my racing heart and pushed the door open, I finally reached her bed and put my hand on her shoulder and whispered "babe, what's going on? Are you and the baby okay?"

I felt her shoulder start to shake under my hand and when she rolled over to look at me she simply shook her head no. She met my eyes and I had never seen so many emotions play across her face. I cupped her cheek as her tears began to flow freely, with hiccupping breaths she quietly said "I lost the baby". With those four words, both my heart and world shattered into a million pieces. In the next moment I was crawling into the bed with to wrap my arms around her shuddering body, placing kisses on any part of her I could while reassuring her that it would be okay, that we would be okay.

The days and weeks following the miscarriage where some of the most challenging of my life. Alex spent almost every moment of every day in bed sleeping or just staring at the framed ultrasound picture siting in her nightstand. I had tried over and over to get her to talk to me, I knew she was grieving but so was I and I needed my wife too. Over the course of the next five months she had all but shut me and our entire family out. I had reached my breaking point after a particularly bad day at work nearly a week later. When I got home and saw her for once sitting on the couch, I just looked at her and asked "do you still want to be married to me?" She looked slightly caught off guard by the question and said "of course, but how can you still love me and want to be married to me after I failed you". That was all it took for me to sink onto the couch wrapping her in my arms and reassuring her that, she could never fail me and I would always love her. We didn't discuss trying again for nearly a year.

One day as we were walking hand in hand through the park, with the sound of dogs barking and children laughing, she looked at me and said "I'm ready to try again", that was the moment my heart started to truly be happy again. We began the IVF process almost immediately and luck was on our side, we were pregnant on the first try. We were thrilled to be pregnant, but we were also cautious given our last experience. As week turned into months, we began preparing the nursery; we choose to not find out the gender and settled on painting the baby's room a soft pale green while choosing an animal theme. I am pulled out of my memories by Alex starting to wake up.

Every time I look at her I lose my breath, but to see her so heavily pregnant with our child is the most breathtaking thing I have ever witnessed. She slowly blinks up at me and smiles.

"You were watching me sleep again weren't you?" she asks while rubbing her eyes.

"How could I not?" I reply, "You are a breathtaking vision."

She laughs and snorts. "No, I'm not. I look like a whale."

I shake my head as I lean in to kiss her lips.

"Well then my love, you are the most beautiful whale I've ever seen."

She rolls onto her back and stretches as I rest my hand on her stomach feeling our child kicking.

"I am so over being pregnant and fat, I just want to hold our baby." Alex said as she looks at me.

"I know you are." I replied. "But it won't be for much longer."

She closes her eyes while taking a deep breath and relaxing.

I had decided that I would run her a warm bath this morning so she could soak her weary body while I made breakfast. After getting everything ready, I help her out of bed and into the tub, which she sank into with a contented sigh leaving her lips.

"Thank you babe." she mutters.

I give a small smile and kiss her lips. "Your most welcome my love. I'm going to go fix breakfast, yell at me when you're ready to get out and I'll come help you." I state. The only response I receive is a okay sign. It's been nearly twenty minutes and I'm getting close to having breakfast ready.

"MAGGIE!" Alex yells sounding panicked.

Fearing that she had tried to get out on her own and somehow got hurt, I run as fast as I can to the bathroom. As I open the door the sight that greets me, makes my heart stop. Alex is leaning back against the tub; hair wet and stuck to her forehead with her eyes squeezed shut, hands rubbing across her belly and taking slow deep breaths and releasing them.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked panicked.

She finally opens her eyes and looks at me with a smile on her face, as she reaches her left hand out toward me; the light overhead bouncing off her wedding ring as I take her and in mine and bring it to my lips leaving a kiss on her knuckles.

"We're going to become mothers today."

For some reason my brain can't process what she has just said.

"No we're not. We still have nine days left." I stupidly say.

She looks at me with the utmost love and smiles, while disentangling our hands so she can touch my cheek.

"Yes we are. My water broke and I just had my first contraction. Our baby is coming today."

This is it. This is the day our lives change forever and I couldn't be more excited. I smile so hard that cheeks begin to hurt.

"Really?"

"Really." she confirms.

I lean across the edge of the tub to kiss her. In that kiss I convey all of the love, joy, excitement and passion I can.

"Okay then. Let's do this, let's have our baby." I say while smiling.

"Let's." She replies, with the smile I love so much.

Thoughts?


	2. So it begings Alex's POV

Alex's P.O.V.

These are the moments I live for now. Soaking in the warm water trying to ease the ache of my body, being nearly nine months pregnant was seriously taking its toll on my body. It still astounds me that we are going to be mothers very soon with only being nine days away from my due date. Glancing down at my swollen belly sticking out of the water, I rub my hands across it, feeling a very hard kick of protest and I smile. We chose not to find out the gender, but I really believe it's a girl. Anytime I refer to the baby as "her" Kara always seems to have a little smile on her face, so I'm pretty sure she used her x-ray vision and looked. I definitely can't wait to meet our baby but I can't wait to watch my wife as a mother.

Wife, I have a wife. That's still so weird for me to say. It's not that I didn't ever want to get married, but I could just never seem to find someone that I really connected with, until Maggie. The last six and half years of knowing her and spending over the last five years having the privilege of calling her my wife, have been the absolute best years of my life.

The day I met Maggie we instantly butted heads, when I spotted her at the crime scene I didn't recognize her and I couldn't risk someone from outside the DEO finding out classified information. When I approached her and asked "what the hell are you doing?" she looked mad. She huffily responded with "all you feds are the same", told me she was NPCD science division and well within her jurisdiction. I couldn't have her snooping around, so I played the badass agent card and replied that her jurisdiction ended where I said it did. To say she was pissed when walking away would be understatement.

When she called me later that day wanting to meet up and have a "do over" seeing as we got off on the wrong foot, I couldn't say yes fast enough. After our first encounter it was as if the universe was pulling us together. We constantly seemed to be at the same crime scenes, working on cases together and then when she was kidnapped by Scorch; I was terrified of not ever getting to see her again.

When I had suggested that we hang out and have drinks together, she looked confused and said she had "read me wrong." What the hell did that mean? When she stated she "didn't know I was into girls", I panicked. When the words "I'm not" left my mouth, I saw hurt and disappointment pass across her face and it was because of me. Then Maggie had stated that "you'd be surprised how many gay women I've heard that from." I wasn't attracted to women. Was I?

The more time I spent with Maggie, the more I couldn't get her out of my head; I couldn't explain the weird pull and connection I felt with her. I had never had that happen and before I knew it I was starting to develop feelings for her, which scared me.

When I finally admitted to myself that I was gay, I told her that maybe she was right about what she said about me. She seemed happy that I had figured it out. She told me that I needed to tell Kara and that I had her in my corner. My feelings for Maggie began growing quickly.

The night at the bar when I kissed her and admitted that I had wanted to do that for a long time, she looked shocked. I realized that I had made a mistake; the look on her face told me that she didn't feel the same way toward me. When she said that she was there for me but just as a "friend", my world screeched to a halt. Seriously, how insanely stupid could I be to think that someone like her would ever like someone like me.

After being shut down, I started pulling away from her, not answering her calls or texts, avoiding the bar and I would send someone else to alien crime scenes. I was completely mortified that I had let myself be vulnerable like that; I wasn't going to make that mistake again.

After a particularly long day at work, everyone wanted to go the alien bar, much to my dismay. I just hoped that Maggie wouldn't be there, luck was not on my side as I heard her call my name, and my heart suddenly started pounding wildly. To say that our encounter was anything less than awkward would be a lie. When she had asked if we were still friends, I wanted to say no, but I couldn't imagine my life without her in it. So I agreed to be friends, not exactly what I had wanted but it would have to work.

In less than 24 hours our re-established friendship would blow up, when I showed up and told her to lay of the Guardian and that we were in fact not friends, she had the audacity to look confused. I told her when I finally accepted that I was gay and that after she told me I deserved to be happy, I thought she meant I deserved to be happy with her. I told her I didn't feel liberated or like I was on some great journey, all I felt was pain because she didn't want me. When I walked away, I felt as if I was leaving my whole entire world behind.

That night at when she showed up at Kara's apartment I was surprised. She told me that she had heard everything I said and if I never wanted to see her again she would respect that and disappear. That's not what I wanted, I wanted her in my life, but I didn't know how we could move forward. When she said that she cared about me a lot and she couldn't imagine her life without me in it, I caved and told her to meet me for a game of pool the next night; she promised she wouldn't miss it.

The night that Kara came over the coms and said she was bring Maggie in because Cyborg Superman had shot her in the shoulder with his heat vision and she was unconscious, I felt like I couldn't breathe. My head and heart were a mess, what if she was so badly hurt that I never got to see her again? I couldn't accept living in a world without her in it.

When her eyes finally fluttered open, I was so relived, I could breathe again and my heart started beating. I was carefully stitching her wound up when she proceeded to thank me; I told her it was me who should be thanking her for helping her helping me "finally get me". She smiled and responded with "anytime".

After leaving the DEO that night, for the first time in weeks I felt at ease and happy. I decided that I really needed a drink to unwind, right as I took my first drink; there was a knock on my door. I wasn't expecting anyone, but when I looked through the peep hole my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I opened the door to let her in, I realized I was in my pajamas; I couldn't be any more embarrassed.

Maggie was rambling, which was so unlike her, she was always so confident and sure of herself. When she started talking about how she thought she was going to die earlier, I had to remind her that there was absolutely no way I would ever let that happen. As she was fidgeting with her hands, she looked at me and said that she wanted to kiss me. My head and brain refused to work together to form any words. The next thing I know she's kissing me, that kiss was how a kiss was supposed to be, full of love and passion.

After that night in my apartment, we officially became girlfriends and things were going great. Our bliss would be short lived because of my stupidity. The day that I made the biggest mistake of my life, started out amazing; it was our first official sleep over. Waking up to Maggie making coffee and wearing my t-shirt was the absolute best way to start the day. Later that day Kara went missing and I avoided Maggie's calls and texts because I was convinced that my happiness had caused Kara's disappearance. It was like I could sense that Maggie was close, when I turned around we locked eyes and I panicked. She asked if everything was okay and I was snippy by responding that it was a bad time that Supergirl was missing and my being "happy for five minutes" was the cause.

When the words "this was a mistake" left my mouth, I saw hurt flash in her eyes and it was because of me. Why did I say that? I knew that her past relationships had left her protective of her heart, because she had it loved for a while only for it to be shattered and handed back to her in pieces. As she walked away, I knew I was letting the best thing to ever happen to me walk away.

That night after returning from the rescue mission, I was distraught. I had tried calling Maggie repeatedly, only for it to go to voicemail every time. So I decided to text her begging for her to come over, I never received a response. I was sick to my stomach, she was done with me, I had messed up. When there was a knock on my door, I prayed it was her on the other side. When I opened the door, I could tell she had put the wall around her heart back up. I thanked her for coming and she replied I most didn't. How can I even begin to repair the damage I had caused? When she said that she didn't think I was ready for this, I couldn't argue that I was quick enough.

I explained that I had just gone a little crazy and that I felt as if the universe was magically smacking me down from being happy. Maybe that would work? That explanation only seems to anger her more. She told me I'd have to do better than that. I told her that I'd always felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, that my parents had expected me to watch over Kara and the few times I had been happy had ended badly and that when Supergirl went missing I "just blew a gasket".

When she stated that it was because Supergirl was my sister, I tried quickly to seem like I had no idea what she was talking about. But Maggie could read me like an open book, she knew the only person I'd freak out over like that was Kara and she jokingly said the glasses didn't help. Finally, someone else agrees that they don't help.

I was relieved that she knew though, I didn't want there to be any secrets between us anymore. She reminded me that bad stuff happens and in our jobs they happened all the time, she wanted reassurance that the next time it did, I wouldn't run again. I promised that I wouldn't, I just wanted to be happy with her. I've never been more relieved than when she said I got one chance, I totally understood, but I also knew she'd give me as many chances as she had to and I'd do the same.

Seven months later, we were going stronger than ever and Maggie began to act weird. Did she no longer want to be with me? When she said that she had planned a weekend getaway to spend time together since we hadn't really had much alone time, I was excited to spend an entire weekend with her without any interruptions.  
On our last night, she suggested we go on a midnight walk along the beach, seeing that it was a crescent moon and you could see so many stars. As we walked hand in hand, I thought this is what it is to be truly happy. She stopped walking suddenly and pulled me back towards her, I was afraid she had tripped and fallen.

As I focused on her, she was down on one knee holding my left hand with her right and fumbling with her left to get something out of her pocket. Was she doing what I thought she was? She seemed to not be able to get her mouth to work, when she finally could form words, they were the most beautiful words I ever heard.  
She looked at me with nothing but love in her eyes and said "I love you Alex Danvers. I want to spend the rest of my days waking up to you, spending our all of the tomorrows I have with you. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Will you make me the happiest woman in the world and marry me?" I couldn't seem to speak and I could see her staring to panic. So I did the only thing I could, I kissed her with the love I had while answering "yes" over and over between kisses.

The months following our engagement were ones of absolute insanity. Mom, Kara and I were in full wedding planning mode and Maggie seemed more than happy to stay out of it. We agreed that it was only fitting to get married on the same beach where we got engaged, we decided to get married the following summer in June. As October rolled into November and November into December, I became increasingly stressed about making sure everything was perfect. I could tell that Maggie was becoming increasingly frustrated with the stress it was causing me.

J'onn had called me into work on New Year's Eve, saying that there was a pressing matter that needed to be resolved and he wanted me to analyze samples. I was ill, Maggie and I had made plans to spend the night ringing in the New Year with our friends and now that plan was shot. I had taken my dress that I had worn the night we busted the underground alien fight club, I knew it was Maggie's favorite, to change into just in case I had to get ready and meet Maggie.

I called Maggie before leaving to see where I needed to meet her and to complain that J'onn had ruined our evening, she assured me that he hadn't, just that our plans had changed a little. She asked me to go ahead and change into my dress so when I got home we would be ready to leave.

As I walked through our door I am greeted with the vision that is Maggie. She is dressed in the dress she wore to bust the underground alien fight club too, it was my favorite thing to see her in. But I was confused, what happened to the apartment? It was decorated like a scene out of movie with an arbor in the middle of the living room. I asked Maggie what was going on, she simply took my hands in hers and led me to stand under the arbor. She told me that planning our wedding shouldn't be stressful but all I was doing was stressing and she didn't want that. She looked at me with all of the love for me she had and stated "I want to start the New Year with you as my wife. What do you say Danvers, wanna get married?" So there in the middle of our apartment, we became wife and wife.

Our second wedding anniversary was fast approaching and I was nervous about what I wanted to tell Maggie. What if she said no? I knew she could tell something was on my mind, because the closer our anniversary came the more quiet and withdrawn I became.

The night of our anniversary, I decided I would tell her that I wanted to have a baby. But I wanted to tell in special way, so fixed dinner and had put on the dress I married her in. She walked through the door and my breath left my body at the sight of her. Throughout dinner, I was incredibly nervous and fidgety. Maggie picked up on it and asked what was going on and before I could even really gather my thoughts, I blurted out that I wanted to have a baby. In the next moment she was out of her chair and wrapping me in her warm embrace and saying "yes" repeatedly while kissing me. We began the process of starting our family over the next few months.

I was hopeful that we would be adding little one to our family in time for our third wedding anniversary. We have very quickly agreed that it would be best for me to be the one to carry our baby, as I could work in my lab as long as there was no potential harm for me or the baby. I told Maggie that since I would be the one to get pregnant, that I really wanted to carry her baby, I wanted to grow a part of her in me that was a product of our love for each other, it took some convincing, but she finally agreed.

When our first and second rounds of IVF were unsuccessful, I didn't lose hope, as a doctor I knew that these things took time. But with our third round, we were positive it had taken, I knew that it did, I could feel it.

Four weeks after the embryo implant, we decided to take a test to find out for sure. We set on the side of our bathtub clutching each other hands in suffocating silence for the longest two minutes of our lives. When timer when off, I felt like I was going to be sick from all the emotions I was feeling. Still holding hands, we both took a steadying breath and promised one another that everything would be okay and turned the test over together. When my saw the pink plus sign, I was overwhelmed by my happiness. I lost track of time as we cried, hugged, kissed and said "I love you" repeatedly. As excited as we were, we wanted to wait until we had our first ultrasound to confirm my pregnancy to tell our family and friends.

With Labor Day weekend fast approaching we rented the house we stayed in when we got engaged and invited our family to have one last summer to have one last summer hurrah. I was now seven weeks pregnant and we couldn't wait to share our news. As we set down for dinner on our first night, I held Maggie's hand in a vice grip with my left and armed with the ultrasound hidden under the table in my right hand, we told our family I was finally pregnant. My mom and sister were over the moon, all my mom could seem to do was cry and hug me over and over, while stating "my baby is having a baby". Kara was a bouncing with excitement and talking nonstop about how she couldn't wait to be an aunt as she carefully hugged me. Poor Maggie didn't seem to be on the receiving end of Kara's carefulness and had to squeak out a plea for her to loosen her grip.

I had just passed my nineteen week mark when everything came crashing down. I had been working on my computer and needed to stretch my legs. Kara walked in and started talking about how Snapper had assigned her a ridiculous story to write as I stood up. Pain, unimaginable and excruciating pain ripped through my stomach. My knees buckled and Kara used her super speed to catch me before I hit the ground and stated that I was bleeding. She carried me to the med bay, while yelling for a doctor, as we waited for help; I looked at her and asked to please get Maggie for me. She kissed my forehead and promised to be back with her as soon as she could. As she left I remembered my phone was still in my pocket, with shaking fingers I dialed Maggie.

The moment her voice flooded my ears, she jokingly asked what craving of the week did I want her to bring. Oh, how I wish that was what it was. I remember managing to get out that I needed her, that I was bleeding and having severe cramps, the only response I got was that Kara had just landed beside her and take promised to be by my side in a few minutes.

As I waited for Maggie to arrive, I pressed the doctor to do an ultrasound, she said that we should wait for Maggie to get there, but I had to know. When she spent what like felt an eternity trying to find a heartbeat, I knew that our baby was gone. I'd never felt that kind of heartbreak before, my world stopped. It didn't really sink in that the part of Maggie that I had so desperately wanted, no longer existed. One moment it there and then it was just gone. As a doctor, I knew these things happened, but a woman, I couldn't grasp how that was even possible.

The doctor excused herself and I wanted to crawl under a rock, but I couldn't. I did the only thing I could and rolled onto my side, facing away from the door. I felt Maggie's presence before she spoke. She softly touch my shoulder and with the most concerned voice I'd ever heard her use, quietly asked "babe, what's going on? Are you and the baby okay?"

That was all it took for my heart to explode in sadness. How could I tell her that I had failed us, failed her? My body began to shake with silent sobs. I rolled over to look at her as I delivered the devastating news, but when our eyes connected, I couldn't speak. I simply shook my head "no". Her hand softly cupped my cheek, as my tears started flowing. Between hiccupping breaths, I quietly told her that I had lost the baby. So many emotions played across her face in an instant and I felt guilty. The loss and pain she was experiencing, was because of my failure. She climbed up in the bed with me and wrapped her arms around me while kissing anywhere she could and whispering that it would be okay and that we would be okay. How would things ever be okay again?

After the miscarriage, I sunk into depression. I spent almost all of my time lying in our bed staring at the framed ultrasound on my nightstand or sleeping. I knew that I needed to be there for Maggie, she was grieving for our loss too, but how could I? What right did I have to comfort her, when it was my fault that we lost the baby. Weeks turned into nearly five months and I pulled further away from Maggie and my family.

I had made up my mind to try to regain some of my sanity and moved to the couch. Maggie walked though he door and for the first time in months I really looked at her, she had aged years in months. All of the burdens she was carrying were tearing her down. When she noticed that I was looking her, she looked at me with empty eyes and simply asked "do you still want to be married to me?" What? Why would she ask that? Of course I wanted to still call her my wife, but how could she still want to call me her wife after I had failed her. I nodded my head and said "of course, but how can you still love me and want to be married to me after I failed you". She practically sprinted to sit beside me and wrap me in her arms. She reassured me that I had never failed her and that she would always love me. In that moment, a broken piece of my heart repaired itself a little. For nearly a year, the topic of try again was not spoken of.

As we walked hand in hand through the park, all I could seem to focus on was children playing and their laughter. I wanted that for us, the pitter patter of little feet running on the floors and a child's laughter reverberating throughout our home. I looked at Maggie and stated that I was ready to try again, her face light up like the sun.

We started the IVF process again almost immediately and with our first try, we were pregnant. We were happy and excited to be pregnant again, but given our last experience we were cautious. Before we knew it the weeks turned into months and we were getting closer to my due date. We wanted the nursery to have an animal theme and chose to paint the walls a soft pale green. I can't wait to meet our baby. I hope the baby will have Maggie's jet black hair, caramel skin tone and full lips, but most of all I hope the baby has her soulful brown eyes; I get lost in her eyes every time I look at her. I am pulled from my thoughts by a very hard and sharp kick to my ribs, talking my breath away.

I rub my hands across my stomach to try to settle the baby down.

"Hey now. I know you cramped in there, but you could be a little bit nicer to me." I playfully scold my stomach. I get a foot pressed hard into my hand as a response.

Maggie is fixing breakfast as I relax in the tub; I hope she is getting close to being done. Not only is the water cooling but also because I'm starting to prune. I fish around with my foot at the bottom of the tub and find what I'm looking for. Using my toes to pull up on the chain attached to the drain stopper watching as the water starts to let out. As the tub drains rather quickly, I'm now sitting in an empty tub and the slight draft was causing goose bumps to appear on my skin.

I lean forward and I brace my hands on the sides of the tub to use the sides as a steadying hold, right as start to push up there is an unmistakable "popping" sensation low in my stomach. What was that? Then I feel it, warm liquid running down the inside of my thighs, I check to make sure it's not blood and I'm relieved that it isn't.

My head snaps up, my water just broke. My. Water. Broke. I'm in labor.

Maggie. I need Maggie.

"MAGGIE!"

I can hear her frantic footsteps as she races to me. I probably should have been calmer when I yelled for her, I'm sure she is thinking I have fallen. As her footsteps become ever louder and I hear the door open, I have my first contraction. It wasn't horribly painful, just uncomfortable. Never the less, my eyes squeeze shut as I rub my hands across my belly trying to let the baby know that everything's okay. I take deep breaths and slowly release them.

I hear Maggie drop to her knees beside the tub.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked panicked.

I open my eyes and the frazzled look she has makes me smile. I reach out my left hand to her, not missing how the light bounces off my wedding ring, casting a flash of light across her face. She gently takes my hand in her left, our rings bumping into each other. She brings my hand up to her mouth leaving a soft kiss on my knuckles.

"We're going to become mothers today."

The look on her face is one of confusion.

"No we're not. We still have nine days left." she quickly replies.

Oh Maggie. My beautiful badass detective wife can't seem to comprehend what I am saying.

I smile and hope that my eyes showed all of the love I was feeling. I gently disentangled our hands to softly touch her cheek.

"Yes we are. My water broke and I just had my first contraction. Our baby is coming today."

Her face breaks out into the smile that I love so much and with a slight tilt of her head.

"Really?" she asks

"Really."

She leans across the edge of the tub to press our lips together, in that kiss I can feel all the love, joy, excitement and passion she is conveying.

"Okay then. Let's do this, let's have our baby." she says while smiling.

"Let's."

This is it. This is the day our lives change forever and I couldn't be more excited.

Thoughts?


	3. Life Changing Maggie's POV

Maggie's P.O.V.

I help Alex out of the tub and start drying her off. As I work my way down her body, I place her hands on my shoulders so she can steady herself. After I finish drying her feet, I toss the towel to the side and look Alex up and down; I want to remember what she looks like in this moment.

I have always thought she was absolutely breathtaking, but to see how well pregnancy agreed with her was something else. Her face had become a little rounder, her breast hung heavy with milk, ready to supply our child with the nutrients that only she could provide. Her hips had become wider in the last few months or so, preparing for the task ahead. Her feet and ankles constantly stayed swollen and painful, I tried to help alleviate as much discomfort as possible by giving her nightly foot massages before bed. But the best part of her pregnancy, was watching her stomach slowly expand with our growing child she carries.

She cups my face in her hands and tilts my face to look up at her.

"I love you." she whispers, smiling.

"I love you."

Placing my hands on both sides of her stomach, I lean forward and place several kisses there.

"I love you baby. We can't wait to meet you." I say softly.

Rising to my feet, wincing when my knees made a loud popping sound. Since when did they start doing that?

I wrap my arms around Alex's waist, leaning in to leave several kisses on her lips.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Getting kinda cold though, can you go get a t-shirt and exercise pants please?"

"Sure thing babe. Be right back." I reply.

I walk into our bedroom room to search though her side of the dresser for said requested items, when I find them I head back to her. She reaches to take the clothes from me and I pull my hand behind my back, keeping them just out of her reach.

"What are doing?" She asks confused.

"You just stand there and look pretty, I'll put you clothes on you."

She shakes her head, as she extends her hand further. "Maggie no, I can dress myself."

"I know you can, but you are getting ready to do one of the hardest things of your life, let me do this for you."

"Okay."

"All right, you know the drill. Arms through the holes and then up."

She giggles at my words.

"Sir, yes sir." she jokes while giving me a mock salute.

As I slip her shirt over her head, I capture her lips in a quick kiss.

I'll never get tired of kissing her.

"Use my shoulders to balance yourself again. I'm going get you in your pants, one foot at a time, okay?"

She nods and places her hands on my shoulders as I knell down. I wait until she has her balance before asking for her left foot and then her right, once I get them to her calves I tug them up as I get up off the floor, wincing yet again when my knees sound like someone popping bubble wrap. Seriously?

She chuckles at the sound. "Sounds like you getting a little old there Sawyer." she teases.

"Hahaha. You think you're so funny. And that Danvers-Sawyer to you ma'am."

"Damn right it is." She confirms

"Let's get you settled somewhere. Where do you want to be?"

"Couch for now."

"Okay. Couch it is." I say as I take her hand and lead her to the living room

"Could you get me some water please?"

"Sure."

As I come back from the kitchen to hand her the water, she shuts her eyes and tale a breath and blows it out slowly.

"They are about 30 minutes apart, right?" I ask

She licks her lips, while nodding her head in confirmation

"Can you call Jenn and let her know what's happening and I'll call my mom and Kara."

"Absolutely." I reply

Getting up I go to search for our phones, after finding them I pad back over to the couch and hand her phone and tell that I will go call the midwife from the bedroom.

"Thank you. You know that my mom and Kara are going to be ecstatic when I tell them it's happening, right? It's going to be impossible to keep them away."

I give a small laugh. "Oh I'm aware. I be right back, but if you need me just yell."

"I'll be fine."

I make my way into our bedroom, shutting the door behind me and sit on the foot of the bed, staring at the phone in my hand.

This is real, this is happening. While I can't wait to meet our child, I know that the journey we will take to finally meet our baby is one that will test us to our limits, especially Alex.

I unlock my phone and scroll though my contact list until I find what I'm looking for, pressing the contact number and bring my phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jenn. It's Maggie."

"Maggie dear, what can I do for you?" she asks

"Alex's water broke about an hour ago and she has had two contractions." I reply

"Sounds like today is the day then huh?"

"It would seem that way. I know we still have a long road ahead, but we just wanted to let you know what was happening." I explain

"That's okay dear, I appreciate it. Call me when her contractions are closer together, with twenty minutes or so in between. Until then I'm not really needed." Jenn states

"Okay. What should I do to help her?" I question

"Just help her through the contractions, do whatever she ask of you, make sure she drinks something with electrolytes and try to see if you can get her to sleep some while the contractions are still far apart. But most importantly, support and love her." she instructs

"I can do that."

"Is it still just going to be the two of you for the birth?"

I laugh "If her mom and sister had any say, no. They would be here the whole time, but this is something Alex and I really want to experience by ourselves."

Her laughter hits my ears as she replies "I know what you mean, the birth of a first child is something everyone wants to witness."

"It's not happening, maybe next time they can be here." I state, "The birthing tub is blown up already, when do you think I should fill it up?"

"There's no rush, but if the pain of the contractions become too intense you can fill it up and let her ride contractions out in the water. The water will help make her stomach less heavy and the warmth should help with the pain some." Jenn said with a gentle tone

"Okay. Thanks so much Jenn. We will be in touch when things start getting closer to time."

"I look forward to it. You should get as much rest as you can too, because lord knows you won't be for the next eighteen years." She jabbed

"I'll try my best." I respond laughingly

After hanging up I look to my left and stare at the birthing tub in the corner of the room. Alex was adamant that she give birth at home, I however was adamant that we have the baby at either a hospital or the DEO; but she won out by saying that she was the one who was going to be push a watermelon though a key hole. I had gotten the tub set up a few weeks ago after much indecisiveness from Alex about where to put it, she finally picked the corner of our bedroom, up against the doors leading out to the balcony. She said she wanted to watch the sky as she labored to bring our child into the world, I simply agreed.

Shanking my head and looking at my watch, I notice that it's getting close to time for another contraction. I make my way to the living room to see Alex with her head resting on the back of the couch with her eyes closed.

"I talked to Jenn and she said to call her when the contractions are closer together and she would come over. She also said that we should get some sleep while there are still big gaps between them." I say gently, as I sit down beside her

"I think that sounds good. We will need our strength for when things start to get really intense." comes Alex calm reply

"Did you talk to Eliza and Kara?"

"Oh yes. Kara's ill that I told her that we would keep them updated, but that we wanted to be by ourselves. She was going to fly out to get mom and they were going to wait at Kara's."

"She'll get over being mad when she gets to hold her niece or nephew."

"Definitely" Alex confirms

"What do say want to go lay down for a while?"

"Yes please."

I get up, standing in front of Alex and offer her my hands so I can help her get up. Once she is on her feet we make our way to the bedroom. I turn down the covers on her side and help her get settled on her left side, before going around to the other side of the bed and slipping under the covers. I scoot across until my front is molded around her back, I use my right hand to prop my head up and plant a kiss on her cheek.

"Here comes one."

I say nothing, but slip my right hand into hers. She takes it and squeezes a little, but nothing like what I know is to come. She takes calming and steadying breaths and blows over the pain.

"It's over." she whispers

I check my watch and note the time; they are now coming every twenty six minutes.

"Do want or need anything my love?"

"Only you."

"How about we try to nap." She nods her head, "wake me up if you need me, okay?"

"Maggie?" she asks quietly

"Yeah?"

"Please be quiet."

I laugh quietly and settle down behind her, resting my left hand on the stomach.

I'm pulled from sleep by the sound of Alex letting out a low groan and my right hand being squeezed. I lean over to look at her face and see that she has her eyes shut and lips pursed. I sit up leaning against the headboard and use my left hand to brush the hair out of her eyes.

"That one was more painful." she states

"How close are they?"

"I'm not sure. That was the only one to wake me up. How long did we sleep?" She inquired

I check my watch again, noting that it's almost noon.

"Almost two hours." I answer

She sighs heavily, rolling onto her back and tries to sit up, but fails. I take her left hand in mine and rest my right with on her lower back and help her sit up the rest of the way.

"Don't you dare say it."

"What?"

"You know what." she said as she glares at me.

I just chuckle as I check our phones, seven missed call from Eliza, twenty-one missed calls from Kara and inordinate amount of text from both.

"Good lord, your mom and sister are blowing our phones up." I say, looking toward Alex to see her laugh

"You seemed surprised by that." she quips

As we relax in bed for an hour so, Alex has seven more contractions roughly ten minutes apart and they are increasingly becoming more painful. I call Jenn and she assures me she will be here as soon as possible.

Jenn arrives about thirty minutes later when Alex is ridding out of a particularly rough contraction on the bed, on her hands and knees. After it's over, Alex lays down and rolls onto her back to allow Jenn to check her progress.

"Your moving along nicely." Jenn says "halfway there and fully effaced. You're in active labor now."

"See babe, you're a champ." I tell Alex while rubbing her arm. All I get is a glare in return; okay we already to the want to kill the spouse stage.

"Easy for you to say." she retorts

As the seconds turn into minutes and minutes into nearly four hours later, Alex is in misery.

"I can't do this anymore!" Alex moans out

We are standing in the middle of our bedroom, swaying back and forth with Alex's arms draped across my shoulders, her head burrowed into my chest, while I rub my hands across her lower back as contraction after contraction roll through her body. I lean back to look at her face the best I can.

"Yes you can. You're doing it now and you're doing so well." I praise her "do you want to get in the tub to try to relax some?"

"Please" she whimpers

While the tub is being filled, Jenn checks Alex again while she lays on the bed, stating that she is at 8cm and going to start into the transition stage soon. I help Alex out of her pants and replace her shirt with a sports bra. Just as she is about to get in, she is hit with her worse contraction yet.

I happen to be standing behind her, with my hands on her hips to steady her, when her legs give out suddenly as she falls into a squatting position; I somehow manage to catch her under her arms before she hits the ground.

"Alex?" I ask concerned, sliding my hands up on the underside of her arms to entwine our fingers, in an instant she has a death grip.

The only response I receive is a strangled cry, followed by a long moan of agony and quick breathing.

"You're doing great Alex. Breathe. In and out." I coach

When it passes I help her into the tub. She drapes her front against the side with her arms hanging out over the edge and rests her head on the edge as well. I sit down in front of her, rubbing my hands up her arms and brush the hair out her eyes. She looks up at me with absolute exhaustion.

"Maggie, I'm so tired." she whispers

"I know you are my love. But you're doing great and you're so strong."

I lean in to place a kiss to her lips, within seconds she brakes the kiss to let out a strangled moan of complete agony.

"Ooooohhhhhhhh." Alex's voice bounces off the walls

"Breathe. Come on Alex. You're doing great." I cheer. I'm now kneeling, leaning over her pouring warm water across her back and rubbing her shoulders. This contraction is only a little over a minute from the last, she's now officially in transition.

Jenn is hanging back, just letting Alex and I do this together. I'm freaking out on the inside, everything is moving so fast and Alex's in horrible pain.

"I'm hot." she complains

Jenn seemed to appear out of nowhere with a cool rag and cup of ice chips. I take the rag, placing it across the base of Alex's neck and she sighs with relief. I get a spoonful of ice and bring it up to her.

"Here's some ice babe." I offer, she opens her mouth and quickly slip the ice in.

"Thank you." She whispers. She becomes tense suddenly and reaches for my hands. I manage to grab her flailing hands in mine, our palms resting against one another with our fingers wrapping around each other's wrist. This contraction seemed to last forever to me, I can't even being to imagine how long it feels to Alex. She is breathing deeply and moaning.

I lower my head and rest our foreheads together.

"I love you. You're doing so well, it's almost over." I say, hoping that my words offer some comfort.

"I love you too." She replies tiredly "I think I'm getting close, can you get in with me?"

"I'll be right back."

I get up to go change into a tank top and shorts, Jenn takes my place helping Alex the best as possible. I quickly change and walk back into our bedroom to see Jenn helping Alex turn around to rest on her back against the side.

"I'm going to check you real quick to see where we are, okay?"

Alex nods tightly as she licks her chapped lips. I cross the room in a few strides and squat down on Alex's left side, taking her hand in mine.

She looks at me with heavy eyes and I smile back, placing a kiss to her lips and resting our foreheads together again.

I feel Alex tense, taking a gasping breath and tightening her grip on my hand as she squeezes her eyes shut so tight, that I'm fairly sure she is seeing stars.

"It's okay, you're okay. She's almost done." I promise, stroking her head.

"Okay ladies, ready to become mom's?" Jenn asks

Alex's eyes meet mine and we smile at one another, while answering "yes" together. Alex leans forward and I climb in behind her. She settles her back into my chest and uses my bent legs as arm rest, while I wrap my arms around her to rest my hands across her stomach one last time while our child rested inside. I place a kiss on the side of her head, as she lays her head back on my left shoulder and entwining our fingers on her belly.

"Together." She breathes

"Together." I confirm

Sixty-four minutes. That's how long Alex has been pushing and she is far past exhausted. I ring out the rag and pass it over her face, neck and chest. About ten minutes into pushing she had demanded that the sports bra be removed, she said it felt as if it was suffocating her. Now she works to bring our child into the world naked and I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life.

"I can't do this Maggie." She wines

"Yes you can and you are. Not much longer and we will be holding our baby, I promise." I say with conviction

"Okay ladies, now the real work begins. I see a tiny glimpse of the baby's head." Jenn says, as she looks up at us and smiles.

"Hear that? We're so close to meeting our baby."

Alex only offers a soft whimper in response.

"You ready?" I ask rubbing my hands up and down her arms

She nods her head and starts to prepare herself to push. I turn my hands upside down and link our hands, wedding rings rubbing together as our fingers entwine. Alex begins to start talking deep breaths as she leans forward, baring down with everything she has and I restart my job of counting for her.

"1,2,3,4,5, come on Alex,8,9,10." I coach. She leans back against me, panting quickly and moaning in pain.

"Good girl Alex." Jenn praises "a few more pushes just like that and your baby will be here soon."

Alex offers no warning of her beginning to push again, she simply just let her body take over and do what it was made to.

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and breathe." I whisper in her ear.

"Alex, the baby is starting to crown. You're going to feel a burning sensation and will want to stop pushing, but don't stop until I tell you. Power through it okay." Jenn commands

"Okay." Alex replies breathless, while nodding

"This is it Alex. You can do this, I'm right here with you." I promise

I lean forward with Alex as she begins pushing. Her whole body suddenly starts shaking, while she lets a long low moan of pain.

"Alex, the baby's head is half way out. I just want you to pant for me now and relax the best you can okay? We need to let your body stretch so you don't tear." Jenn states without looking up

"Oh my god Maggie. It hurts so bad." Alex cries.

"I know, I know. You're okay though, you can do this. Pant with me." I set a rhythm that Alex follows. I glance over her shoulder and sadly can't see anything. I'm quickly pulled back to my job of keeping Alex clam, when she starts sobbing.

"It burns!" She manages to choke out around a sob.

I run my left hand across her forehead and she allows her head to roll with the motion.

"I know it does, but you're doing so great Alex." I whisper, as I placing a kiss to the side of her head

We continue to pant together as she reaches for my left hand again, seeking whatever comfort she can find. I gladly open my hand to allow her to lace our fingers together, just as her legs began to shake uncontrollably. She cries out in complete agony with her head thrown back across my shoulder and tries to close her legs.

"Don't close your legs Alex", Jenn reprimands quickly "keep them open. The baby's head is almost out."

I disentangle our hands and reach forward to cup her knees to help keep her legs open, causing her to reach up and grip my forearms so tightly, that around her fingers my skin turns white.

"Come on Alex, you're okay." I say, trying to comfort her.

All she can do is sob, squeeze the living hell out of my forearms and pant. All of a sudden she goes slack in my embrace, I'm afraid she had passed out, but relieved when she cracks her eyes open a little.

"Heads out." Jenn announces "take a minute to rest and gather your strength, the hard part comes next."

"We're almost mothers." Alex cracked voice states as she turns her head to look at me.

Holy shit. We are going to be mothers in a matter of minutes.

"Alex, if it's okay with you and Maggie if you want, you can catch the baby."

I know my eyes bugged out of my head with the statement. Alex and I never discussed the possibility of me catching the baby.

"Go." Alex says, gently nudged me.

"What, Alex no."Comes my panicked reply

"Please. I want you to be the first one to hold our baby."

"Okay. Okay." I respond frazzled

She leans forward just enough to allow me to sip out from behind her, as she quickly resettles back on side, reaching out to the handles on the side for something to hold.

I move to kneel in front of her and as I look down between her legs, I forget how to breathe. My eyes land on our baby's face; it's face is scrunched up into a pout. I note that it has a head full of jet black hair and my caramel skin tone.

"Oh my god Alex." I breathe out in a whisper, as my head snaps up to look at her.

She looks back at me through her hooded eyes and smiles.

"What does our baby look like?" She questions

"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful." I whisper smiling "it's got a head full of jet black hair and my caramel skin."

The smile that graces her face when those words leave my mouth, is one of complete happiness.

Our moment is interrupted by Jenn's gentle voice "Alex, do you want to feel your baby's head?"

Alex nods feverishly. She extends her left hand and I reach out to guide her to gently cup the baby's head. With both of our hands now cupping either side of the baby's head, we are both touching our child for the first time.

"Oh my god Maggie." Alex breathes out, with a smile and tears clouding her vision "that's our baby."

"I know", I respond with a crying laugh, as I nod my head and smile so hard my face burns.

"Okay Alex, on your next contraction, push with everything you have. Maggie, just support the baby's head and neck in one hand and use your other hand and forearm to support its' back as it comes out." Jenn instructs

Alex and I both nod and prepare to do our jobs. Alex retracts her hand and once again holds tight to the handle, while letting her head fall back. I'm glancing between her and our baby, completely amazed.

"You ready?" She asks with a slight smile, as she raised her head to look at me.

"When you are." I answer smiling back.

She shuts her eyes as she begins drawing in deep breaths and blowing them out steadily. She takes a deep breath, leans forward and pushes. I watch in amazement as more of our child begins to appear.

"That's it! Come on, keep pushing!" I cheer

Before I know it, I'm holding the baby's hand and neck in my right hand and its' shoulders in my left. In the next instant; our child is born into my waiting hands.

Alex falls back in relief and sheer exhaustion, breathing heavily. I blink rapidly to make sure that I'm actually seeing what I am.

As the sun sets outside, casting a warm orange glow in the room, we welcome our child into the world.

"You did it, Alex! Our baby's here!"

"Okay Maggie, gently lift the baby and place it on Alex's chest." Jenn instructs

I look up into Alex's eyes and she smiles down at me. I lift our baby out of the water, reaching forward and gently placing the baby on her chest; she instantly brings her arms up around the baby to hold it to her chest. I slip to her right side and wrap my left arm around her shoulders and rest my right hand on top of hers on the baby's back.

Jenn works quickly and quietly as she suctions out the baby's nose and mouth and when she finish's, the baby let out an indignant wail. The baby is crying loudly, testing out it lungs and quivering its' entire body with the effort.

"Hi baby, you're okay." Alex coos "We are so happy to finally meet you. I'm your mommy and this is your momma." She said looking at me with a huge smile.

I capture her lips in a searing kiss cupping her face in my hands. When we break apart, resting our foreheads together, we look down at our child.

"Thank you so much for this precious gift Alex. You are absolutely amazing. I love you."

"What do we have momma, a son or a daughter?" She asks

"I don't know, I forgot to look." I answer and we both laugh.

Alex shifts the baby so we can look between its' legs.

Boy. Definitely a boy.

"A son Maggie. We have a son." She whispers in amazement, looking at me.

"A son." I echo and kiss her again.

Jenn clamped the cord and was wiping our son off. He certainly didn't make her task easy. He was pissed; limbs flailing, crying so hard he was hiccupping and face scrunched up in annoyance.

With a gentle tone Jenn explains to me where to cut the cord, severing the tie between Alex and our son. With the afterbirth delivered and the water beginning to chill, we get Alex and the baby out of the tub and into to our bed. While Jenn check her out to make sure everything is okay, I stand beside the bed swaying with the baby in my arms. After Alex receives a clean bill of health, I reluctantly let Jenn take our son to do measurements, get a weight, clean and wrap him up like a burrito. As she does that, I help Alex clean up and settle against the headboard. I climb in beside of her and wrap her in my arms.

"I can't ever begin to thank you enough for our son."

"Thank you for letting me carry a part of you." She replies, as she kisses me.

We turn our heads to the sound of whimpering as Jenn walks towards us with a squirming bundle in her arms. Alex reaches out and Jenn places the baby in her arms.

"You have a big fella. Twenty-two inches long and weighing in at a hefty seven pounds 9 ounces." She informs us.

"Good lord Alex, how did you manage to have him naturally? He's like a linebacker." I joke

"I couldn't have done it without you." She answers, not looking away from our son

"Is he okay?" I ask

"Healthy as a horse. I'm going to go into the living room and give you all some time as a family." Jenn states

"Thank you for everything." I tell her

"My pleasure." she responds, as she slips out the door.

I rest my head on Alex's right shoulder, peering down at our son. I can't believe we were mothers, this doesn't seem real.

"Look at our baby Maggie. Look at what we did." my wife whispers, turning to capture my lips in a loving kiss.

"I know. He's beautiful."

"He's perfect. I want to see him, will you help me lay him on the bed?"

"Sure." I scoot over, to create space between us and reach my hands out to help her lay him down gently.  
With the most gentle touch I've ever seen anyone use, she un-swaddles him, receiving a small cry of protest. I reach my finger out to caress his face, down his arm and then his tiny hand and he gripped my finger with force. I watch as Alex counted fingers and toes over again and again.

"I can't believe he's ours Maggie."

"I know, I can't either."

As we look him over, his eyes begin to flutter open. He cracks them open a bit before squeezing them back shut and giving the most adorable pout. After a few moments, he finally opens them and looks around.

"He's got your eyes too. He's a spitting image of you." Alex says happily

He begins to fuss, while moving his head from side.

"I think he's hungry." I state

Alex shifts to rest her back against the headboard and moves a pillow onto her lap. Once she nods, I pick him up and gently place him in her arms, she guides him to her left breast and he latches sucking vigorously.

We sit with our heads resting against one another as we watch him eat. His left hand laid on top of Alex's breast, lazily opening and closing while he blinked sleepily. I wrap my left arm around her shoulders and run the back of my pointer finger on my right hand across his cheek, he grunts in response, as he tries and fails to swat my finger away. Not even hour old and already got an attitude.

"I love you with everything that I am Alex and I'm so in love with our son." I whisper in her ear, before leaving a kiss on her cheek.

She turns her head to look at me and I become lost in her eyes.

"I love you with everything that I am Maggie. I'm so in love with our son too." She whispers back.

I cup the back of her neck and the side of her face with my hands and place a searing kiss on her lips, I try to convey all of the love I have for her in the kiss. We break apart as we hear a tiny cry and look down; he's full and sleepy now.

Alex brings him up to rest his head on her right shoulder, his face turned into her neck; he sighs and snuggles down into her arms.

Both of us place a kiss on his tiny head, listening as his breathing evens out.

With my wife wrapped in my arms and our son sleeping between us, I realize that I am holding my entire world.

These are the moments I live for now.

Thoughts?


	4. Life Changing Alex's POV

Alex's P.O.V.

Maggie insists on drying my body and I'm not about to tell her no. With my eyes closed, hands resting on her shoulders for balance, I relish the electric feeling that her hands leave as they ghost over every part of my body. I notice that she has finished and open my eyes to look at her, but she seems to be lost in thought. I watch as her eyes map over my entire body and I know what she is thinking. I reach my hands out to cup her face and tilt her head up to look at me. Looking into her eyes, I see nothing but love.

"I love you." I whisper, with a smile on my lips.

"I love you."

I feel her hands on the sides of my stomach as she places several kisses over our child. I smile and close my eyes at the sentiment.

"We love you and can't wait to meet you baby." she says softly.

Oh, how all of those words were true.

I open my eyes when I hear her get up, taking note of the loud popping sound that come from her knees, but say nothing. Since when did they start doing that?

She wraps her arms around my waist and leans to press several kisses to my lips. I'll never get tired of kissing her.

"How are you feeling?"

Truthfully, I feel fine, aside from the nerves. A slight draft blows across my body and I shiver a bit, I need clothes.

I ask her to get a t-shirt and pants and she heeds my request. My eyes follow her as she walks into our bedroom and I take note of how good her ass looks in those jeans. In the last few months, my hormones have kicked into overdrive and I haven't been able to get enough of my wife.

She comes back with the clothes I asked for and I reach to take them, she pulls her hand away keeping them just out of my reach. What the hell?

"What are doing?"

"You just stand there and look pretty, I'll put you clothes on you."

I shake my head. I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself, thank you very much.

"Maggie no, I can dress myself." I retort, reaching forward yet again to grab the clothes

"I know you can, but you are getting ready to do one of the hardest things of your life, let me do this for you."

I can't argue with that. As a doctor, I know that what I'm getting ready to do is going to push me to my breaking point. Also, I haven't been able to reach my calves in weeks, so getting anywhere close to my feet without the use of the bed is a no.

"Okay."

"All right, you know the drill. Arms through the holes and then up." she states with her "authoritative" tone and I giggle.

"Sir, yes sir." I say while doing a mock salute.

She quickly slips the shirt over my head and steals a kiss when my head appears through the hole.

"Use my shoulders to balance yourself again. I'm going get you in your pants, one foot at a time, okay?"

I nod and place my hands on her shoulders as she kneels down. She waits until I have my balance before asking for my left foot and then my right. As she stands, she tugs my pants the rest of the way up and I notice her wince as her knees sound like someone popping bubble wrap. She is constantly reminding me that I'm older than her, but my knees weren't making that sound. I can't help myself, I have to tease her.

"Sounds like you getting a little old there Sawyer." I say, as a chuckle escapes my mouth.

"Hahaha. You think you're so funny. And that's Danvers-Sawyer to you ma'am."

Yes, it definitely is. I love that we hyphenated our lasts names; it's as if we have equal parts of each other.

"Damn right it is." I confirm

"Let's get you settled somewhere. Where do you want to be?"

I really wanted to lay in bed, but I know that I could possibly be spending a lot of time in bed in the coming hours and my back aches a little. The couch sounds like the best option for now.

Maggie leads me to the couch and I settle in the best I can. I ask her to get me some water and just as she is handing it to me, I'm hit with my second contraction. I shut my eyes and take a breath and blow it out slowly. It isn't painful, just feels like a severe period cramp, if only they would stay that way.

As my eyes land on Maggie, she is looking at her watch and noting the time.

"They are about 30 minutes apart, right?" she enquires and I simply confirm her question with a nod

There's no denying it, I'm officially in labor. I realize that we have yet to call the midwife to let her know what's happening and I have to call my mom and sister. I ask Maggie if she would go call Jenn and I would take care of my family. She disappears into our bedroom in search of our phones, she returns and hands me my phone and stating she would go back to the bedroom to call Jenn.

"Thank you. You know that my mom and Kara are going to be ecstatic when I tell them it's happening, right? It's going to be impossible to keep them away."

She gives a small laugh. "Oh, I'm aware. I be right back, but if you need me just yell."

"I'll be fine." I promise

Maggie retreats into our bedroom and I hear the door click shut softly. Taking a steadying breath, I prepare myself for the two phone calls I'm about to make, I'm not sure which one of them is going to freak out more when I tell them that I'm in labor. I decide to call my mom first.

I listen to the phone ring and she picks up on the fourth ring.

"Sweetheart, how are you?" her clam voice reaches my ears.

Here goes nothing.

"I'm good. Actually, I'm great. My water broke about an hour ago and I've had two contractions. You're gonna be a grandmother today."

My answer is met with complete silence; I pull my phone away and look at it to make sure that the call is still connected, it is. I think I may have broken my mother.

"Mom, you there?"

"I'm here." she says so quite that I almost don't hear her "you're sure? It's really happening?"

"Pretty sure."

"Oh, Alex." she says around a sniffle "you're going to be a mother soon."

"I don't think I have exactly processed that, Maggie either."

"Are you doing okay though?" she questions

"I'm okay. The contractions aren't painful yet, but I know that's going to change soon." I said with a small voice

"It will, but you'll be fine. You can do this, you're strong."

"I hope your right."

"You are; all of the pain will be forgotten the moment you hold your baby, I promise. Have you talked to Kara yet?"

"No. You're my first call. Do you want her to fly out and get you?"

"That's fine. What should we do to help when we get your place?"

I realize that after Maggie and I decided that we wanted to experience this life changing event together, I had totally forgotten to tell my mom and Kara.

"Yeah, about that. Please don't be mad, but Maggie and I just want to do this by ourselves. It's not that we don't want you here, we just feel like it's something we need to experience together as a couple."

"I completely understand. I'm not mad, but you know you are going to have a hard time convincing Kara to stay away, right?" She says laughing

"Thank you for understanding. I know, I was hoping that you both could stay at her place and we will call when the baby arrives."

"I think that will work. I will keep your sister reigned in."

"Good luck with that. I will have Kara get in touch with you and you two can work out the details of her coming to get you."

"That works. I'm so excited!"

"Me too I'm going to call Kara and let her know what going on."

"Okay. You've got this, Alex. I love you."

"I love you too mom."

After telling my mom bye, I prepare myself for my next call.

Hitting Kara's contact icon, I lift my phone to my ear and wait. Just when I think it's going to go to voicemail, Kara answers

"Hey, Alex." She's breathless

"Hey. What are you doing?"

"Nothing." she answered quickly

Yeah, no. I'm not buying that, but I don't have the energy to drag the truth out of her.

"Uh huh, sure." I quip

"What's going on? You don't usually call this early in the morning?" she tries to divert

"Oh you know, just in labor."

"What?"

"Yep. My water broke about an hour ago and I've had two contractions."

The excited yell that Kara lets out has me pulling my phone away from my ear quickly and holding it at arm's length. When she seems to have settled, I hesitantly bring my phone back to my ear.

"ALEX! I'm going to be an aunt today?!" she all but yells

"Yes."

"Oh Rao! This is so exciting!"

"It is. Listen, I just got off the phone with mom and I'm hoping that you can fly out and get her?" I ask hopeful

"Sure! I'll call her and tell her I'm on my way, we can be at your place in an hour or so."

"About that. I love you, but this is something Maggie and I want to alone."

"What?"

I hang my head at the hurt I hear in her voice. I know she is excited to become an aunt and the last thing I want to do is hurt her feelings, but I'm not going to back down on this.

"It's not that we don't want you here, it's just that Maggie and I want to do this by ourselves, it's something we feel we need to do together. I thought that you and mom could stay at your place, that way when the baby gets here, you aren't that far away."

"Okay." she says in a defeated tone and I picture her digging at the ground with the toe of her shoe like a kid.

"It's nothing personal Kara, I promise."

"I know, it's just I was hoping to be able to do something to help you through this."

"Having you and mom close by will help." I say, hoping that will suffice

"Okay. I'm going to call Eliza and get plans made for going to get her."

"Have I ever told you how great of a sister you are?"

"Maybe once or twice."

"We will update you from time to time as to what's happening."

"Thanks! You're going to just fine Alex. I love you."

"Love you too Kara."

After hanging up, I suddenly feel very sleepy, so I lay my head on the back of the couch and close my eyes. I hear Maggie walking across the floor and brush past me, as she makes her way to my left side.

"I talked to Jenn and she said to call her when the contractions are closer together and she would come over. She also said that we should get some sleep while there are still big gaps between them." she says gently, as I feel the couch dip as she sits down.

A nap sounds amazing right now; I know I'm going to need all the energy I can get for the task that lies ahead of me.

"I think that sounds good. We will need our strength for when things start to get really intense."

"Did you talk to Eliza and Kara?"

"Oh yes. Kara's ill that I told her that we would keep them updated, but that we wanted to be by ourselves. She was going to fly out to get mom and they were going to wait at Kara's."

"She'll get over being mad when she gets to hold her niece or nephew."

"Definitely" I confirm

"What do say want to go lay down for a while?"

"Yes please."

Maggie stands up and she offers me her hands to help pull me up. I haven't been able to get up off the couch without help for nearly two months now; it's incredibly embarrassing and frustrating. Once I'm finally on my feet and steady, we make our way to the bedroom. Maggie turns down the covers and helps me ease down to lay on my left side; she disappears from my view as she walks around the bed to climb under the cover too.

I feel her scoot across the bed and her chests mold around my back; the heat from her body helps ease some of the ache in my lower back. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her prop her head up to look at me and kiss my cheek, as I start to feel a tightening sensation low in my stomach.

"Here comes one."

She says nothing, but she slips her right hand into mine and squeezes. I take clam and steadying breaths as I try to blow over the pain. The contraction lets up quickly and I'm thankful.

"It's over."

I see her check her watch to time it, but I don't ask how long since the last contraction.

"Do want or need anything my love?"

I have her; I have all I could possibly ever need to do this.

"Only you."

"How about we try to nap." I hear her say, as I fight to keep my eyes open "wake me up if you need me, okay?"

I love my wife, I do. But damn it, she needs to be quiet so I can fall asleep before I wake up to much.

"Maggie?"

"Yeah?"

"Please be quiet."

I feel her shake a little with laughter as she settles down behind me and rests her right hand on my stomach, rubbing soothing circles.

I'm pulled from a very nice dream of Maggie and I lying on a beach, by the feeling of a vice grip around my stomach. I let lose a low groan, surprised by the contractions' intensity, while gripping Maggie's hand. I feel her shift behind me to sit up and she brushes the hair out of my eyes, as the contraction lets up rather quick, but that one packed a little bit of a punch.

"That one was more painful."

"How close are they?"

I have no idea; I had been able to sleep through the others.

"I'm not sure. That was the only one to wake me up. How long did we sleep?"

"Almost two hours."

Only two hours, that's it? I sigh heavily, rolling onto my back and try to sit up but fail; I should have known I couldn't sit up on my own. Maggie takes my right hand and uses her left to push on my lower back to help me get up right. I know she is thinking about saying something along the lines of me looking like a turtle stuck on its' back. This is so not the time.

"Don't you dare say it." I state flatly

"What?"

"You know what." I reply, as I glare at her and she reaches for our phones.

"Good lord, your mom and sister are blowing our phones up."

I laugh at her words and she looks at me.

"You seemed surprised by that." I quipped

We relax in bed for a little over an hour and during that time; I have seven more contractions, which are increasingly becoming more painful. These aren't even the really strong ones that I know are going to come, how am I going to get through this? Maggie calls Jenn to tell her what was happening, as I send a text to mom to tell her that things were moving along. Maggie says that Jenn would be here soon as she could, when she did arrive roughly thirty minutes later, I was riding out a particularly rough contraction on my hands and knees on the bed. When it passes I lay down and roll onto my back to let Jenn check my progress.

"You're moving along nicely. Halfway there and fully effaced. You're in active labor now."

Halfway. I'm halfway through one of the most painful things I'm ever going to experience.

"See babe, you're a champ." Maggie encourages, while rubbing my arm.

For some reason that statement pisses me off, I don't know why though and I shoot a glare her direction.

"Easy for you to say." I retort

As the seconds turned to minutes and minutes to nearly four hours later, I feel like I'm dying.

Correction. I'm fairly certain that dying would be less pain than this. I'm already at my limit and it's not even close to being over.

"I can't do this anymore!"

Standing in the middle of our bedroom, gently swaying back and forth, Maggie has her arms around me; rubbing her hands across my lower back to try to help ease my back labor. I have my head buried into her chest, trying to draw comfort from the sound of her heartbeat. I feel her shift and I know she is trying to look at my face, but I'm not budging from the steady rhythm of her heart.

"Yes you can. You're doing it now and you're doing so well." she praises "do you want to get in the tub to try to relax some?"

The thought of maybe having some pain relief, sounds like heaven.

"Please" I whimper

Maggie helps me back over to the bed so I could lay down while she goes about filling the tub up. Jenn takes advantage of me laying down to see how far along I am and I'm relieved when she says that I am at 8cm, I'm almost to the finish; but she also informed me that I will be starting into the transition stage soon and I know that means no breaks between contractions, which terrifies me.

Maggie helps me out of my pants, while changing my shirt out for a sports bra. She leads me over to the tub and right when I'm going to get in, I'm hit with the worse contraction yet. I seem to have no control over my body as it rips the air from my lungs and my legs give out. Thankfully, Maggie has her hands on my hips to help steady me and when I fall into a squatting position, she somehow manages to catch me under my arms and keeps me from hitting the floor.

"Alex?" I hear her ask, sliding her hands up on the underside of my arms to entwine our fingers, in an instant I have a death grip. I want to answer her, but I can't form any words. The only response I can give her is a strangled cry, followed by a long moan of agony and quick breathing.

"You're doing great Alex. Come on. Breathe, in and out." she coaches.

At one of us thinks I'm doing great.

When it finally passes, she helps me up and into the tub. As I sink down to my hands and knees, the warm water hits my back and I instantly feel some relief. I don't want to stay on my hands and knees, so I drape my chest against the side, hanging my arms out over the edge and resting my head on the edge.

Relief, finally.

I see Maggie out of the corner of my eye, sit down in front of me, as she rubs her hands up my arms and ever so gently brushes the hair from my eyes. I look at her and I wonder if my face shows how exhausted I truly am.

"Maggie, I'm so tired." I confess quietly

"I know you are my love. But you're doing great and you're so strong." she says with the smile I love so much gracing her lips.

She leans forward to kiss me and I relish the felling of her lips on mine, trying to draw strength from the act of love she gives me.

I break the kiss when a horribly painful contraction racks my body and a strangled moan of agony forces it way up my throat and past my lips. I hear my cry bounce off the walls and startles me.

"Breathe. Come on Alex. You're doing great." I hear Maggie cheer me on. She kneels, leaning across my body and pours warm water across my back, as she rubs my shoulders easing some of the tension. I know that I'm now officially in transition, as that contraction was only maybe a minute from the last and I suddenly feel like our bedroom is an oven.

"I'm hot." I moan

I see Jenn appear out of nowhere, I honestly had forgotten that she was even here, as she has been hanging back letting Maggie and I do this together. She hands Maggie a cool rag and a cup of ice chips, my wife places the rag across my neck, I sigh in relief at the coolness of it.

"Here's some ice babe."

I open my mouth and gladly accept the cold relief.

"Thank you." I whisper.

I feel a crippling contraction begin and I tense, reaching blindly for Maggie hands; she captures my flailing hands in hers and rests our palms together as our fingers wrap around each other's wrist.

Is this contraction ever going to end?

I moan and breathe deeply to try to keep the pain from overwhelming me, as Maggie rests her forehead to mine.

"I love you. Your doing so well, it's almost over." I can hear the comfort she tries to give me in those words.

"I love you too."

I'm starting to feel immense pressure build low in my pelvis and I'm convinced that I'm getting close to having to start pushing.

"I think I'm getting close, can you get in with me?" I ask, there is no way I can do this without her.

"I'll be right back." she promises

As she leaves to go change, Jenn helps me turn to rest my back against the edge and I'm certainly not fond of the pressure it puts on my lower back.

"I'm going to check you real quick to see where we are, okay?"

All I can do is nod tightly and lick my incredibly chapped lips. I watch as Maggie crosses the room, squatting down beside me on my left side and takes my hand in hers.

I look at her with heavy eyes and she smiles encouragingly, placing a kiss to my lips and resting our foreheads together.

I feel Jenn check my cervix and it's so incredibly uncomfortable; I tense at the intrusion, taking a gasping breath, tightening my grip on Maggie's hand and shut my eyes so tight that stars dance behind my eyelids.

"It's okay, you're okay. She's almost done." Maggie promises, stroking my head.

Jenn finishes checking my dilation and I relax, until the words "Okay ladies, ready to become mom's?" leave her mouth.

I meet Maggie's eye and we smile at each other and answer "yes" together.

I lean forward to allow her to slip in behind me; I settle back into her chest and use her bent legs as arm rest, as she wraps her arms around me to rest her hands on my stomach one last time while our child rests inside. She places a kiss to the side of my head, while I lay my head back on her left shoulder to try to relax as I entwine our fingers on my belly.

I can't do this without her and need reassurance that she's with me.

"Together."

"Together." She confirms

Ten minutes into pushing and I feel like the sport bra is suffocating me and I demand that it be removed, Maggie obliges. I have no idea how long I've been pushing for, but it feels like an eternity and I'm exhausted. Maggie runs the rag across my face, neck and chest and I'm grateful for the slight refreshing feeling it offers, as I work to bring our child into the world naked.

I honestly don't think I can do this anymore.

"I can't do this Maggie." I wine

"Yes you can and you are. Not much longer and we will be holding our baby, I promise." She says with conviction

"Okay ladies, now the real work begins. I see a tiny glimpse of the baby's head." Jenn states, as she looks at us smiling.

"Hear that? We are so close to meeting our baby." Maggie's excited voice says quietly into my right ear.

All I can manage is a soft whimper in response

"You ready?" She asks, rubbing her hands up and down my arms

If it meant that this agony would end, I was ready. I nod and start to prepare myself to push. Maggie turns her hands upside down and links our hands, wedding rings rubbing together as our fingers entwined.

I can feel the building pressure of a contraction coming; taking deep breaths I leaned forward and bear down with everything I have.

"1,2,3,4,5, come on Alex,8,9,10." My wife coaches and when the contraction lets up, I sink back into her arms, moaning around quick pants.

"Good girl Alex." Jenn praises "a few more pushes just like that and your baby will be here soon." I hope she's right; I've had enough of this.

I quickly feel another contraction start and I let my body take over and do what it was made to, pushing without warning.

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and breathe." Maggie whispers in my ear.

"Alex, the baby is starting to crown. You're going to feel a burning sensation and will want to stop pushing, but don't stop until I tell you. Power through it okay." Jenn commands

Why would anyone want to do this more than once?

"Okay." I say breathless and nod

"This is it Alex. You can do this, I'm right here with you." my wife promises

Maggie sits forward with me as I push again, my legs suddenly start shaking and I let out a low long moan as I feel like I'm splitting in two.

"Alex, the baby's head is half way out. I just want you to pant for me now and relax the best you can okay? We need to let your body stretch so you don't tear." Jenn says

I've been shot and it didn't hurt this bad.

"Oh my god Maggie, it hurts so bad." I cry out

"I know, I know. You're okay though, you can do this. Pant with me." She sets a rhythm that I follow. I feel her lean across my shoulder and figure that she is trying to catch a glimpse of our baby.

The burning. My God, the burning. I've never felt pain like this before and I start sobbing.

"It burns!" I manage to choke out around a sob

Maggie runs her left hand across my forehead and I allow my head to roll with the motion, seeking any comfort I possibly can.

"I know it does. You're doing so well Alex." She whispers and places a kiss to the side of my head

We pant together at the rhythm she has set and I reach for her left hand, because I needed to feel anchored to her in every way possible. She opens her hand and I lace our fingers together just as the largest part of the baby's head tries to pass though and my legs shake uncontrollably. I cry out in absolute agony, throwing my head back across Maggie's shoulder and I try to fight the horrific burn by trying to close my legs.

"Don't close your legs Alex", Jenn reprimands quickly "keep them open. The baby's head is almost out."

Does she have any idea how bad this hurts?!

I feel Maggie disentangle our hands and I miss the contact immediately, but when she cups my knees to help keep them open I'm grateful, because there is no way I can keep them open on my own. I need something to grip and my hands find tight purchase on her forearms.

"Come on Alex, you're okay." My wife promises.

I don't feel okay at all. I sob, squeeze the living hell out of Maggie's forearms and pant. Just when I think that my body can't possibly stretch any further, the pressure suddenly releases and my body goes slack in relief.

"Heads out." Jenn announced "take a minute to rest and gather your strength, the hard part comes next."

Holy shit. We are going to be mothers in a matter of minutes. I look at Maggie and with a cracking voice I say "we're almost mothers."

Our moment of realization is interrupted.

"Alex, if it's okay with you and Maggie if you want, you can catch the baby." Jenn states

We never discussed the possibility of her catching our child, but I want nothing more than Maggie to be the first one to hold our baby. I nudge her and tell her to go.

"What, Alex no." I can hear the panic in her voice.

Oh, Maggie.

"Please. I want you to be the first one to hold our baby."

"Okay. Okay." she responds frazzled

I lean forward just enough to allow her to slip from behind me, before I rest back against the side of the tub and reach for the handles to use them for leverage.

She moves to kneel in front of me, glancing down between my legs and I see her breath catch. I watch as she stares at our baby's head and her head snaps up to look at me.

"Oh my god Alex." She breathes out

I look at her through hooded eyes and smile.

I want, no I need, to know what she sees.

"What does our baby look like?"

"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful." she whispers smiling "it's got a head full of jet black hair and my caramel skin."

My heart flutters at her words. Our baby is going to look my wife. I give her the smile that I know she loves so much.

Our moment is interrupted by Jenn's gentle voice "Alex, do you want to feel your baby's head?"

Yes, absolutely yes.

I nod feverishly; extending my left hand forward and Maggie takes my hand to guide me to gently cup the baby's head. I feel her shift her hand and our fingers overlap as she cradles the other side of the baby's head.

In that moment, with us cupping the baby's head in our hands, we are both touching our child for the first time.

That's our baby.

"Oh my god Maggie. That's our baby." I breathe out in amazement

"I know". She answers with a crying laugh, while nodding her head with the biggest smile I've ever seen graces her lips.

"Okay Alex, on your next contraction, push with everything you have. Maggie, just support the baby's head and neck in one hand and use your other hand and forearm to support its back as it comes out." Jenn instructs

Right, I still have work to do. Maggie and I both nod and prepare to do our jobs. I retract my hand, once again holding tight to the handle and let my head fall back, trying to gather what strength I have left.

I can feel the beginnings of a contraction building.

"You ready?" I ask her with a slight smile, raising my head to look at her

"When you are."

I shut my eyes and begin to take deep breaths and blow them out steadily, trying to help clam my racing heart. I take an incredibly deep breath, lean forward and push with everything I have, I feel the baby slipping further out of my body.

"Alex, that's it! Come on babe, keep pushing!" Maggie coaches

Before I know it, the baby leaves my body and slides into my wife's waiting hands.

I'm spent, I have nothing left. I fall back in relief and sheer exhaustion, breathing heavily.

As the sun sets outside, casting a warm orange glow in the room, we welcome our child into the world.

"You did it, Alex! Our baby's here!"

"Okay Maggie, gently lift the baby and place it on Alex's chest." Jenn instructs

Maggie looks up into my eyes and I smile at her, as she lifts our baby from the water, reaching forward and gently placing the baby on my chest. My heart explodes with love. I bring my arms up around the baby to hold it to my chest, as Maggie slips to my right, wrapping her left arm around my shoulders and brings her right hand up to rest on top of mine on the baby's back.

They say that the moment you hold your baby for the first time you forget all of the pain, and it's completely true; I have suddenly erased all memory of the hours of agony to get to this point.

Jenn works quickly and quietly as she suctions out the baby's nose and mouth and when she finishes, the baby lets out an indignant wail. The baby cries loudly, testing out it lungs and quivering its' entire body with the effort.

"Hi baby, you're okay. We are so happy to finally meet you. I'm your mommy and this is your momma." I say looking at my wife with a huge smile.

She captures my lips in a searing kiss and cups my face in her hands. When we break apart, resting our foreheads together, we look down at our child.

"Thank you so much for this precious gift Alex. You are absolutely amazing. I love you."

She didn't tell me what we have.

"What do we have momma, a son or a daughter?"

"I don't know, I forgot to look." she answers and we both laugh.

I shift the baby so we could look between its legs.

Boy. Definitely a boy.

"A son Maggie, we have a son." I whisper looking at her

"A son." she echoes and kisses me again

Jenn clamps the cord, before wiping our son off and he certainly isn't make her task easy. He is pissed; limbs flailing, crying so hard he's hiccupping and face scrunched up in annoyance.

With a gentle tone Jenn explains to Maggie where to cut the cord, severing the tie between me and our son. With the afterbirth delivered and the water beginning to chill, they get me and the baby out of the tub and into to our bed. While Jenn checks me out to make sure everything was okay, Maggie stands beside the bed swaying with our baby in her arms. After I receive a clean bill of health, Maggie reluctantly lets Jenn take our son to do measurements, get a weight, clean and wrap him up like a burrito. As she did that, Maggie helps me clean up, settle against the headboard and she changes clothes quickly, before she climbs in beside of me and wrapping me in her arms.

"I can't ever begin to thank you enough for our son."

If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have our son.

"Thank you for letting me carry a part of you." I say, capturing her lips with mine.

We turn our heads to the sound of whimpering as Jenn walks towards us with a squirming bundle in her arms. I reach out and Jenn places our son in my arms.

"You have a big fella. Twenty-two inches long and weighing in at a hefty seven pounds 9 ounces."

"Good lord Alex, how did you manage to have him naturally? He's like a linebacker." Maggie jokes

I couldn't have done it without her by my side, encouraging and coaching me every step of the way.

"I couldn't have done it without you. Is he okay?" I ask, not looking away from our son.

"Healthy as a horse. I'm going to go into the living room and give you all some time as a family."

Maggie thanks her for her help and she slips out the door.

She rests her head on my right shoulder and peers down at our son.

Our son, we have a son. I can't believe we were mothers, this doesn't seem real.

"Look at our baby Maggie, look at what we did." I whisper, turning to capture her lips in a kiss

"I know. He's beautiful."

"He's perfect. I want to see him; will you help me lay him on the bed?"

"Sure." She scoots over, to create space between us and reaches her hands out to help me lay him down.  
With a gentle touch, I un-swaddle him, receiving a small cry of protest. Maggie reaches her finger out caressing his face, down his arm, then his tiny hand and he grips her finger with force, while I count his fingers and toes over and over again.

"I can't believe he's ours Maggie."

"I know, I can't either."

As we look him over, his eyes began to flutter open. He cracks them open a bit before squeezing them back shut and giving the most adorable pout and after a few moments, he finally opens them and looks around.

I'd know those eyes anywhere; it's the same ones that the love of my life has. He's an exact copy of Maggie.

"He's got your eyes too. He's a spitting image of you." I say happily

He begins to fuss and moves his head from side to side.

"I think he's hungry."

I shift to rest my back against the headboard and move a pillow into my lap. Once I'm settled, I nod and she picks him up placing him my arms. I guide him to my left breast and he instantly laches on sucking vigorously, it's an odd sensation.

We sit with our heads resting against one another as we watch him eat. His left hand lies on top of my breast lazily opening and closing while he blinks sleepily. Maggie wraps her left arm around my shoulders and runs the back of her pointer finger on her right hand across his cheek, he grunts in response, trying and failing to swat her finger away. Not even hour old and already got an attitude.

"I love you Alex, I love you with everything that I am. I'm so in love with our son." she whispers in my ear, placing a kiss on my cheek.

I turn my head to look at her and I become lost in her eyes.

"I love you Maggie, I love you with everything that I am. I'm so in love with our son too."

She cups the back of my neck and the side of my face with her hands and places a searing kiss on my lips, I feel all of the love she has for me conveyed in that kiss.

We break apart as we hear a tiny cry and look down; he is full and sleepy now.

I bring him up to rest his head on my right shoulder, his face turned into my neck; he sighs and snuggles down into my arms.

Both of us place a kiss on his tiny head, listening as his breathing evens out. Maggie has her arms wrapped around me, with our son sleeping between us.

We sit in silence, just listening to the tiny snores of our son. I'm not sure how long we spend by ourselves; my mind is running a thousand miles an hour. I'm pulled from my thoughts by a soft knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in." Maggie answers

Jenn quietly opens the door and steps in

"I just wanted to check you both over one more time before I head out."

I nod and shift the baby over to Maggie and she dresses him in soft pale green onesie, at the side of the bed as Jenn checks me. As she checks our son over, Maggie helps me slip a long shirt on. With a smile, Jenn states that we are both fine, passing our son back to me.

"Have you picked a name for this handsome fella?" she inquires

I look at Maggie in panic, we haven't even discussed what to name him, we have names picked out, but none of them feel right for him. She laughs at my panicked expression; I don't see why she thinks this is funny.

"Not yet." She answers

"That's quite alright, take your time. You have forty-eight hours to fill out the birth certificate. Just call me when you're ready and I will come over to sign it."

We both nod and she bids us farewell, reminding us to call her if we need anything at all.

"So, what should we name him? Are we going to go with one from our list?" Maggie asks looking down at him

I bend my knees up and place him on my legs, allowing him to be propped up.

"I don't feel like any of the names we picked are right for him. Do you have any in mind?"

"I was thinking Jeremiah for his first name." she says quietly

I turn my head to look at her with tears in my eyes.

"What?" I whisper

"I would like our son to have you dad's name, if that okay with you?"

For a long time I can't answer her and I see her starting to worry that maybe suggesting that name wasn't a good idea, but it's perfect.

"Yes." I smile as a tears slide down my cheeks and she wipes them away with the pads of her thumbs.

"Okay. So we have a first name, what about a middle?"

I don't have to think long before knowing the name I want to use.

"What about J'onn? I know it's not an Earth name, but if he hadn't recruited me, we would have never met."

She smiles, kisses me and lets her head rest on mine.

"It's perfect. We can call him JJ for short."

We look at our son, who has now opened his eyes, looking at us and we both reach forward and allow him to wrap his tiny hands around our fingers.

"What do you think of the name Jeremiah J'onn Danvers-Sawyer, little man?"

He just blinks sleepily back at us.

"I think he approves." I confirm

As much as I want to stay in the moment with just the three of us, we need to let my mom and sister know that the baby's here and I want J'onn come over too, so he can meet his namesake.

I send a text to all three and give them permission to fly over, seeing as it's dark out, no will notice them. Within a matter of minutes, we see them land on the balcony and they all have huge smiles on their faces. Maggie makes her way over to unlock the door and they almost run in.

Maggie settles in beside me again and we share a smile. They can't see the baby, as he is still propped up on my legs and I know the suspense is killing them.

I gently pick him up in my arms and turn him towards them.

"We want to introduce you to our son, Jeremiah J'onn Danvers-Sawyer. JJ for short." I say smiling and I feel Maggie squeeze me gently around my waist

My mom brings her hand to her mouth in a gasp and I see tears well up in her eyes. Kara smiles so big that it looks painful, while bouncing excitedly on her feet. J'onn looks shocked, but has a smile on his face too.

I reach my arms out, placing him gently in my mom's arms and her face lights up. She touches his face with the back of her finger and he scrunches his nose at the contact.

"Oh girls, he's absolutely beautiful." she whispers, looking at him.

"He looks exactly like Maggie." I say proudly

Kara stands beside her peering down at him. "I can't believe I have a nephew!"

After a few minutes my mom tries to pass him to Kara, she looks panicked as she takes a step with her hands raised out in front of her in a "stop" gesture.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, it's just with my super strength I'm afraid I'll hurt him."

She'd never hurt him, not in a million years.

"You're not going to hurt him, hold your nephew." Maggie says and I turn to smile at her and steal a kiss

We watch as my mom passes JJ to Kara, who stands ridged and unmoving, causing JJ to let out a wail and Kara panics.

"See! I told you I'd hurt him!" she says with fear, trying to hand him back to me and I shake my head and push him back into her chest.

"You didn't hurt him, I promise. He just senses that you are fearful, relax and he'll settle down." I assure her

She relaxes and he settles, just like I knew he would and makes soft cooing sounds as he looks up at her. She smiles her thousand watt smile and my heart sings at the sight.

I was afraid I was going have to practically pry him from her grasp, so that J'onn could hold him. When she finally places him in J'onn's arms, I see the fatherly side of him emerge. He bounces his arms ever so slightly to keep JJ content and talks to him in Martian. He looks up at Maggie and me, with tears in his eyes.

"I'm honored to share my name with him. Thank you."

We nod and thank him for all he has done for our family.

After nearly an hour of being passed around, JJ becomes increasingly fussy. My mom hands him back to me, placing a kiss on his head and Maggie and I's cheeks.

"I'm so proud of both of you."

"Thanks mom."

JJ begins to cry and frantically move his head side to side.

"And that's our cue to leave."

Kara looks crestfallen

"What?" she asks

"They need to have some alone time to bond with JJ and he is hungry."

"But we just got here." Kara argues back

"Kara." My mother uses the "mom" tone that leaves no room for argument

Kara's shoulders slump as she mumbles "okay"

"You can come see him tomorrow." My wife promises

She smiles and walks over to hug us both and leave a kiss on his head. J'onn walks over and places in his hand on my shoulder and with a gentle squeeze smiles and turns to leave. While he may have not said anything, I knew what he was saying.

They take flight from the balcony as JJ is in full melt down mode.

"Okay, okay. I'm working on it." I promise him, as Maggie helps me tug the shirt off again and goes to hunt for a spaghetti strap shirt to replace it with and yoga pants.

I manage to get JJ to latch on and he settles almost immediately. After he finishes eating, I hand him over to Maggie to burp him as I slip the shirt and pants on. My body is slightly sore, but not as bad I had feared it would be and I'm thankful.

We settle back in bed, with JJ lying in between us sleeping; Maggie and I are lying down on our sides; our hands linked together above our heads and our other hands resting on his stomach lightly.

I glance up a Maggie and her eyes meet mine

"I can't believe we made him." I say in awe

She smiles and leans across JJ to place a long kiss to my lips

"I know, I can't believe we made him either."

The events of the day finally catch up to me and before I know I'm falling asleep. I wake up to an empty bed and look around the dark room, but can't see anything.

"Maggie?"

My question is met with silence. My hand fumbles around for my phone on my night stand; I look at the time, almost midnight. JJ will need to be fed again soon. I sit up in bed and notice the light in the living room is casting a glow under the door. I slowly make my way towards the bedroom door and the closer I get my ears pick up the faint sounds of music, I quietly open the door; leaning against the doorframe and the sights that greets me makes my heart explode.

She has her back to me a she sways gently from side to side and is slowly turning in a circle. I recognize the song that's playing, Splitting Wood by Claire Guerrero; it's the song that Maggie and I would dance to when JJ wouldn't settle in my stomach.

Maggie has now turned and is facing me; she has JJ lying on her chest, as his hands fidget beside his head.

I've never loved her more than I do in this moment.

"We didn't wake you, did we?"

I shake my head, while giving her a smile and push of the doorframe walking to her; we stand chest to chest, with JJ in between us.

"No. I woke to an empty bed and saw the light on."

"He was being fussy and I'd thought I'd give dancing to his song a try."

"It seems to be working."

I place a kiss to his head and then lean forward to capture Maggie lips in a searing kiss, resting our heads together as a new song starts; its Maggie and I's song, the acoustic version of Coming Home by Sigma & Rita Ora.

"I do believe this is our song. May I have this dance?" she asks

"Always" I promise

With our heads still pressed together, I wrap my right hand around her waist and bring my left up to rest it on JJ's back as he slowly drifts off to sleep.

"I love you both so much." I whisper

"I love you both so much too." she reciprocates

As we dance slowly, I realize that I'm holding my entire world in my arms.

These are the moments I live for now.

Thoughts?


End file.
